My most recent trip to Nevada was all about exploring an alternative side to the Silver State. Sure, we slept in Las Vegas and stuck to the neon lights at night, but our days were all about stimulation off the Strip. The pursuit of one such adventure brought us to nearby Boulder City to explore Bootleg Canyon — from the air.

I’ve been ziplining several times before — from one island to another in Thailand, over a raging river in Honduras, and through a lush jungle in Ecuador. Basically, you’ve got to wow me to get me excited over hopping into another harness. All kitted up and ready to fly, I gazed out the window during our van ride to the top of Red Mountain and realized this would indeed be a different experience than the ones I’d had before. For one thing, the landscape was from another world — vast red desert sculpted into canyon as far as the eye could see. I had my eyes peeled for big horn sheep, though I was warned they were most often spotted in the morning.

For another thing, the guides were a piece of work. I get the feeling that working at Flightlinez is the fantasy of overgrown frat boys/Seth Mcfarlane fans everywhere. While our sense of humors weren’t exactly aligned they got quite a few laughs out of me just for their sheer enthusiasm — and the depth of their emotional wounds when their jokes fell flat.

Exiting the van we had about a fifteen minute walk up the mountain. When we reached the top, I gave the boys a nod that said touché. Standing at 3,800 feet above sea level, the view was fabulous.

There was only one way to go — down. The course is made up of four ziplines gradually bringing flyers back down to the base of the mountain. Statistically, the course is impressive, with a 400 foot drop on the first run, a mile long (well, eight feet short) runway on the third run, and maximum speeds of 60mph — which granted, would seem a lot more intimidating had we not just raced cars on a professional racetrack.

And, of course, there are badass outfits to go along with it.

Actually, the getups were pretty impressive. There were plenty of GoPro-ready helmets to go around and the harnesses had pockets in the back for safely toting cameras, water, and the one thing I would have paid approximately one billion dollars for at the time — chapstick. For the love of all things holy, do not forget chapstick when flying down an aerial runway in the desert. Just thinking about its heavenly moisturizing properties almost made me faint.

What also almost made me faint, but in a good way? The drool-worthy views over Lake Mead, which looked like a mirage in the distance.

Despite the fact that there are only four runs, the entire experience takes about two and a half hours — you really get to know the mountain well. But thanks to the magic of technology, you can come along with me in two minutes or less!

After the final run, Flightlinez won my heart forever with a simple but beyond genius marketing move — a bucket of branded chapstick. My only constructive criticism would be to hand those babies out up on the course, but I was obviously too busy slathering my lips in waxy goodness to make any kind of suggestions.

But seriously, if you’re looking to break away from the Vegas strip and see a little bit of the aesthetics and adrenaline Nevada has to offer, Bootleg Canyon should be on your short list.

What’s the coolest place you’ve been ziplining?

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Many thanks to Travel Nevada for hosting me and showing me a new side of Nevada. As always, you receive my honest opinions regardless of who is footing the bill.

Looks like so much fun!! I’ve always been afraid of heights, but I’ve been ziplining in Costa Rica and it was so worth getting over that fear for! The views are stunning, and there’s nothing like that feeling! 🙂

I’ve been ziplining once, in the Costa Rican jungle. I guess I have a mild fear of heights so I was super nervous. But when my mom pushed me aside and took the plunge, I realized I had to suck it up and go for it. It was SO cool. Ziplining through the desert looks awesome. I can’t get enough of those views! I will totally tackle those ziplines next time I’m in Nevada.

I was just looking into this the other day actually–we are heading to Vegas in August and I want to get off the strip some. Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Looks like fun, we might have to go! Love the Chapstick idea too, can never have enough! 🙂

I’ve got one not too far from my place. It’s more of a tree top adventure with four big zips at the end. Like you, it takes a lot to impress me ziplining but the odd one is enjoyable. I think I have the opposite of a fear of heights. I fear being on the ground for too long…

wow, it seems you have left no stone unturned in the vegas area!
as for my own ziplining career, it is comprised of exactly one run, at the base of an active volcano called mt mayon in the philippines. it was fun, a bit painful & resulted in a cringe-worthy “superman” photo.

This does look fun! And I’m not the biggest fan of ziplining myself, I’ve also done a Thai version (on Koh Samui) and an Ecuadorian version (near Baños…upside-down…after eating a huge lunch…and we got stuck) but this is definitely different and you’re right, those views are spectac! xx

Ha! I did the one in Baños as well but luckily did not get stuck. I also did one in Northern Thailand which was awesome but almost too long. By the end I was like fainting of hunger and ready to leap off the platforms to be back on solid ground!

I went zip-lining from a mountain in Labadee, Haiti over a beautiful sparkling turquoise Caribbean sea, and on shorter but still cool zip lines once on a cruise ship(!) and once through the Freemont Street Experience. This view looks sickkk, I’d love to check it out on one of my next Vegas jaunts.

This post made me laugh out loud right from the start! I’ve had a few run-ins with some of these guides from living/working in Boulder City. While I haven’t done the zipline I can attest that “overgrown frat boys” is completely accurate.

Like you, I’ve been ziplining at least a half dozen times (Cuba, Honduras, Hawaii, Montana, the list goes on), but I think our rainforest zip in St. Kitts this spring takes the cake. That said, I’d welcome the change in scenery and zipline through a desert instead!

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I'm a New York native who left my home to explore the world slowly and thoroughly. I’m just a little obsessed with photography, scuba diving, and reading guidebooks to countries I have no immediate plans to visit.